The all new Vans Hi-Standard Series brings snowboarding back to its origin

Vans is proud to introduce a new snowboard event: the Hi-Standard series. Events will take place in major European snowboard resorts and feature an original big air format where riders are judged on individual style, creativity and self-expression – the Vans way. Rotations over 720 are not permitted.

The Vans Hi-Standard Series is going back to the grassroots of Vans, celebrating 20 years of Vans snowboard boots in an authentic way. The concept is simple as it’s all about style rather than spinning to win. No matter if you are a seasoned pro or amateur, old or young, boy or girl – having a good session together, enjoying a famous Van Doren BBQ and celebrating the true spirit of snowboarding is all that counts that day.

The judging criteria is pretty simple, the more style and trick variety you have, the more you get paid. Each styled out trick will earn you Van Doren dollars with no repetition of tricks allowed. Alongside the Big Air contest, each event will also include a best trick rail jam as well as a prize for the most valuable rider and the worst bail.

The Vans Hi-Standard series consists of 3 stops with a total prize purse of 9.000€. Space is limited to 66 snowboarders per event split across two categories: under 16 and over. Both genders and all riding levels are welcome to participate, Vans will even cover your lift ticket.

Dates and Location

March 12th 2013 Restaurant L’altiport, Les Arcs/FR
March 23rd 2013 Vans Penken Park, Mayrhofen/AT
April 6th 2013 Cairngorm, Scotland/UK

Sign-up: 8:30 am
Contest Start: 10:00 am
Visit www.facebook.com/VansEurope/events for more information on each Hi-Standard event.

Arnette’s search for the best rookies in Europe has come to an end and the lucky ones have been judged and put to the acid test already.

140 days after the launch of the ALL EYES ON ME 2011, the new Arnette rookies have been chosen. From more than 60 applications the best five of each country (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and Norway) were invited to finals. So welcome Marius Bakken (NO), Andreas Grong (NO), Thomas Kigle (GER), Roland Hörtnagl (AUT), Gregor Betschon (CH) and Louis Labertrande (F) to the Arnette family. Congrats!

www.arnette.com
www.facebook.com/arnette.eu

Next weekend, April 16-17 2011, it’s time to get the steeze out again for the infamous Style Session in Saas Fee and win a surf trip to France with the Völkl crew!

For the 8th time now, the Style Session lures riders to the beautiful Swiss Alps of Saas Fee to find out who is the most stylish rider of all. Or rather which crew as this contest is a team effort and you will need 3-5 stylish peeps with you to win this.

Qualification starts Saturday, April 16th as a jam session with two heats. Each crew has two hours in which all 3 to 5 stylers rock the park together and show off their best tricks. From this the judges will pick 8 crews to ride in the finals on Sunday. These will be done in KO system with one crew battling another. Up for grabs is a surf holiday sponsored by Völkl for the crew with the most and best steeze, as well as goodies from Nitro and Ride snowboards.

For more info go to stylesession.ch

Mamadou Delfino *like* Intercrew.

The Full Monty on the TTR 4* Intercrew 2011: check the official video here, and the report here.

Sirvio Cervello FS5.

A wide mix of French and Spanish riders attended the 3rd edition of El Bambino in Font-Romeu, Pyrenees…

Balloonization.

And after two years at a second place which could have costed him the nickname of ‘Poulidor of snowboarding’, Julien Vilmin managed to win this slopestyle competition with style. Expression session on the slope was the format, with a bonus for those who hit the ‘After box’. Local legend Mathieu Justafré won the best trick by miles with a tasty Switch Back 9… But the variety of tricks from Julien, plus the ballsy frontflips pretty much on every obstacle, got him the crown. Big up to the young Paula, only 12 years old, who landed several Back 3 at the bottom of the landing…

Santi Espanda on the main table.

Nico Filiater, Frontboard on da box.

Final results Men:

1- Julien Vilmin

2- Sirio Cervello (also best trick on the box)

3- Mathieu Justafré

4- Santiago Espada Lopez

5- Adria Ferrer Coll

And the girls:

1- Paula Marcia Prieto

2- Melina Sanchez (best trick on the box)

3- Maeva Flory

The podium.

Right after the prize giving ceremony started la soirée, Draw Your Party at the Ermitage Cafe, with a live from Odillon who electricized the audience. The Mazcor crew, organizers of this balloonesque event, want to thank the shapers, DC, Monster, Eastpak, Volcom, Electric,Altiservice Font-Romeu, 10.80, Sector 3 and Horsefeather, and announce the coming out of the video soon on elbambinosnowboard.com.

Photos: Max B.

With a brand new video judging system the Quiksilver Spring Battle is coming back to the Absolut Park in Flachauwinkel this week!

Starting off on Wednesday, 30ths of March 2011, you can expect world class shred action as well as smooth hanging in the Chillhouse.To make sure you don’t miss anything vital this week, here’s the schedule and the riders list.

TIMETABLE

Wednesday, March 30th 2011
Morning – Arrival and training
13:00 – Absolutpark Skate session: „Cash for Tricks“ in the Chillhouse hosted by Playboard
Afternoon – Training

Thursday, March 31st
10:00 – Training
11:00 – Qualification for 30 riders, 2 runs best count
13:00 – Top 10 of TTR ranking plus Top 10 of qualification, 2 runs best count
20:00 – Lib Tech Riders Party with DJ Dragstar and announcement of the super finalists at EMAs Pub

Friday, April 1st
11:00 – Super final: Top 10 of finals, 3 runs best count
19:00 – Video Judging with Hot Seat Award ceremony at the Festsaal in Flachau, live concert by Cashless and aftershow party with DJ Teddy O

RIDERS LIST

1 Seppe Smits BEL
2 Anthony Smits BEL
3 Niklas Mattsson SWE
4 Mario Wanger AUT
5 Matevz Pristavec SLO
6 Carlos Gerber SUI
7 Simon Pircher AUT
8 Chris Kröll AUT
9 Rudi Kröll AUT
10 Ludwig Lejkner SWE
11 Milu Multhaup-Appleton NZL
12 Mathias Weissenbacher AUT
13 Herby Thaler AUT
14 Phips Gruber AUT
15 Michi Stanschitz AUT
16 Felix Georgii GER
17 Bernhard Kraxner AUT
18 Manuel Lindmooser AUT
19 Kevin Scherübl AUT
20 Clemens Schattschneider AUT
21 Adrian Krainer AUT
22 Ville Paumola FIN
23 Peter König AUT
24 Patrik Cinka GER
25 Stefan Falkeis AUT
26 Robert Wallner AUT
27 Thomas Minichberger AUT
28 Iouri Podladtchikov SUI
29 Ulrik Badertscher NOR
30 Roger Schuller
31 Patrick Müller
32 Deniz Cinek

Mathieu Crepel sending it for the poney - all photos: Clement Chouleur

For the 9th time now, the TTR 4Star Poney Session went down in the St Lary snow park in the French Pyrénnées, March 19th-22nd 2011.

Winner of the infamous session is Pyrénnées local and French legend Mathieu Crepel,  next to Sweden’s Isak Björnström who came second, fellow Frenchmen Jean Jaques (JJ) Roux in third.

The format of the event was a fun jam session and the final saw ten riders take two runs, with hundreds of people cheering on in the sunny and slushy spring-time conditions. It was a treat for the spectators to see Mathieu competing in his home region, since he has taken a step back from the competitive snowboarding circuit, focusing on riding powder in the recent years. He was stoked after the event saying, “It was awesome as usual. I had a perfect day with my good friends and the park was amazing! I rode every line of the slope, I tried new tricks and I landed a Cab Double Under, in the Perfect Jump. I’m stoked to finally get the Pony Title! This event really is worth it’s 4 TTR stars and I’ll be there for sure for the 10th anniversary next year! ” Mathieu’s winning run included a half cab boardslide 270 out on the pole jam, a switch back 900 on the big air, a sweet frontside 1080.

Out of the many Swedish riders competing, it was Isak Björnström who grabbed the second place leaving JJ Roux (FRA) in third. This season has been a good one for Isak, as he has been competing at other European 4Star events, and getting up on the podium at each and every one of them. He took a first place at the 4Star Sony Ericsson Snowboard Fest in Slovakia and a second place at the 4Star Engadinsnow in Switzerland. With his second place at the Pony Session he moved up considerably in the Swatch TTR Tour Ranking. Even though the TTR Tour Champions have been crowned, there are several 1-4Star events coming up on the TTR Tour, where riders like Isak still have the opportunity to collect results in order to determine their Season-End Bonus Points, which will be carried over to the 2011/12 season.

Welcome are any contributions, whether you’re a studied professional or just a boredom scribble, the message is what counts as the main focus of GummiLove is to protect young love and raise awareness for safe sex.

From all submission, the best 4-6 designs will be chosen, manufactured, printed in catalogues, exhibited at trade shows and events, presented in
magazines, sold as limited editions in selected core shops and finally worn by people that cherish your creation & GummiLove…

This what they need

Subject: illustration, text, foto print, 3D graphics, cartoon / comic,…
Message: protecting the young love, safer sex, love life, etc… -> abstract, subversive or directly – as you want!
Style: their audience is young, cheeky & loving board sports cultures -> mainly cool and without a wagging finger!
About: tell them who you are, what you do, what motivated you to support GummiLove – and attach a photo of you.
Process: first drafts need to be handed in by the end of April 2011! Final artwork to be submitted end of May 2011!

Send all of this to: artist@gummilove.com

Have fun creating and safe your fun with GummiLove!

gummilove.com

Juulia Timlin - photo: Harri Tarviainen

While Peetu Piroiinen just won his 3rd TTR title in as many years, Finland found it time to push the girls side a bit more as well and upgraded their only all girls event to a 4Star TTR event and changed the name to Catfight, going down from March 23rd-27th.

“The Battery Catfight is more than just a competition. It is the coming together of girls from all over Europe for a celebration of all things snowboard. Learning about the industry, competition, photoshoots, on hill pro-coaching, parties; we did all of this. But mainly we rode together, got stoked on each others riding and left with fun memories” says last year´s third place Claire Frost (UK).

Now in its 7th edition, the Battery Catfight, previously known as the Oakley Girlsessions, was first organized in 2004. The idea of the event was to gather girls of all levels to enjoy a weekend full of snowboarding and enjoy spring conditions on the slopes, park and pipe.  Maintaining these basic principles is still the aim of the Battery Catfight organizers, the non-profit, “Finnish Female Snowboarders Association”, who strive for the progression of female snowboarding. The many years of this event has left a significant mark in the Finnish snowboarding history and it is known as the event where Finnish superstar rider, Enni Rukajärvi, last years TTR Tour Champion, started her competitive snowboarding career.

The event is a meeting point for all female riders, but is also a perfect playground for girls to step up and show their skills and potential for a big audience. In addition the event offers huge opportunities for the ladies, with “wild cards” on offer to multiple events. Greatest of them is definitely a seeded spot at the 6Star Burton European Open 2012 for the winners of the Halfpipe and Slopestyle formats. Three invites will also be handed out to the final of the 4Star Billabong Flaunt-It series in California in the US. “Working together with other events is a great way to help all female riders by providing a path for progression,” says event director Noora Vihervaara. There is of course some serious cash involved as well, with the $ 10 000 USD prize purse and prizes on offer like mobile phones, Burton gear, Oakley goggles and watches.

The new location, Levi, offers a perfect base for the Battery Catfight event. Competition venues, park and pipe, are located right by the village and have been re-designed specifically for this event. Within a radius of 500m you will find everything you need during the event: event village, contest venues, slopes, shops, bars and well…everything. All this, added to an amazing Lapland atmosphere is the recipe to an unforgettable, snowboard filled week.

How to get here then?
Levi is a cheap and easy place to travel to, as the “Kittilä” Airport is right next to it, or alternatively Rovaniemi Airport is a mere 2h drive away. There are several companies flying routes from Helsinki, but also from some other European countries. Check out AirBaltic, Blue1 and Finnair for cheap flights. You could also choose the sightseeing route and book your flight to Helsinki, stay few days and travel to Levi with the “Battery Catfight bus”. The bus fare is part of the event package, which for a small fee of 349€ gives you accommodation, transfer to and from Helsinki and event fees. Accommodation is available on request separately as well.

For more info got to ttrcatfight.com, for online registration please click HERE

Isak Björnström sending it

A truly spectacular performance was witnessed by the three thousand spectators gathered for the biggest Slovakian snowboard contest, the 4Star Sony Ericsson Snowboard Fest on Saturday 19th of February 2011.

The freshly upgraded 4Star big air event had attracted local superstars, as well as, a strong Swedish and Czech representation to Driencia, the Slovak resort, and a high level of riding was seen throughout the day. Isak Björnström (SWE) took the title leaving countryman Felix Mobärg in second and Jan Nečas (CZE) in third. Isak took home 500 Swatch TTR Ranking points and a mighty share of the $20 000 USD prize purse.

The 17-meter flat kicker was in perfect shape and liked by all the riders, and the warm and slightly slushy conditions during the day let riders in the qualifying rounds fly by with a smile on their face. The unique qualification format was one part of the day that made the event memorable and maximised the riding done by the riders. In the first qualification round a minimum of 540 rotation was required to move on, and semi-finals saw a one hour jam session with 2 scored runs where tricks had to be called before dropping in.

The evening brought some gusts of wind, but that did not stop the ten qualified riders from putting on a killer showdown in the three jumps, best two counts final. Winner Isak Björnström (SWE) stomped a huge and clean switch backside 900 in the first run, and polished off the victory with a frontside 1080. He was stoked to take his career’s first 4Star title and said, “It’s the first time I’m here in Slovakia and it was a really great day today. The jump was perfect and with really good riders here, everyone had fun. I came here with couple friends and I’m super happy now.”

Felix Mobärg (SWE) who rose to second place landed a backside 720 and a frontside 1080, and Czech ripper Jan Nečas who placed third threw down a crowd pleasing double back flip and a frontside 1080 and moved up into the World No. 57 in the Swatch TTR tour rankings. Alessandro Boyens (GER), who has previously bagged the Sony Ericsson Snowboard Fest title three times in a row, was not able to repeat his performance. He placed tenth and now sits just outside the TTR World Top 100.

For more info go to ttrworldtour.com

The podium: Honza Necas, Isaak Björnstrom, Felix Mobarg